NY man guilty in sex case; dog helped girl witness
Rose, an 11-year-old golden retriever whose regular job is helping provide therapy in schools for troubled children, is flanked by David Crenshaw, the clinical director of the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie, and Sherri Cookinham, Rose's handler, in front of the Dutchess County Court House in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. A deeply traumatized 15-year-old girl will get some special help from Rose when the girl takes the witness stand at the upstate New York trial of the man accused of sexually assaulting her for four years. It's an unprecedented arrangement in New York that is just now gaining acceptance elsewhere. Credit: AP
An upstate New York jury has convicted a man of sexually assaulting a girl for four years starting when she was 10, an ordeal the child was only able to describe while testifying with a companion dog at her side.
The Poughkeepsie Journal reports the jury deliberated seven hours before finding 36-year-old Victor Tohom (TOH'-hohm) guilty of predatory sexual assault against a child and child endangerment.
The now 15-year-old girl testified Monday that Tohom repeatedly raped her. She steadily petted 11-year-old golden retriever Rose, trained to comfort troubled or distressed children. The judge allowed the dog on the stand —a first in New York — because the girl suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and was unlikely to be able to testify otherwise.
Tohom's lawyer objected to the undue sympathy jurors might give the girl. He said he'll appeal a guilty verdict.
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